Esmeralda Aharon, M.A.

I attribute my success to a deep, intrinsic sense of purpose rooted in love, faith, and service. From a very early age, I knew I was called to lead. As a child, I learned how to connect deeply with people, and growing up in the church shaped both my character and my sense of responsibility to others. I didn’t wait for permission or external validation to lead; I understood intuitively that leadership is something you live into, not something you are crowned with. According to my faith, this calling was placed in me by God. My faith has always been the compass that guides my decisions, the source of my motivation, and the foundation of my resilience. The love, joy, and deep appreciation for life that God placed in my heart are not meant to be kept to myself; they are meant to be shared. That desire to uplift others is what fuels my work and sustains me through challenges.

I also attribute my success to having the privilege of my military service, particularly in roles focused on spiritual care and leadership; I had the honor of walking alongside people from many backgrounds and faith traditions, helping them cultivate spiritual resilience in the midst of adversity. That experience strengthened my ability to lead with empathy, humility, and courage.

Ultimately, my drive is intrinsic, but I believe it comes from above. My success is the result of faith in action: listening to what is placed in my heart, responding with courage, and committing my life to helping others recognize their own strength and dignity.

The best career advice I’ve ever received was this: lead from who you are, not who you think you’re supposed to be, and don’t wait for permission to do it.

The advice I would give to young women entering any industry is be yourself. Nobody is like you. You were created to be different. You were created to be you. So own it. Own your story. Own who you are. Embrace all of you. Bring yourself fully to universities, to the workforce, anywhere you are, whatever industry you are, be yourself. Empower yourself by using your voice and using your whole identity, whatever that is. If I were to ignore who I am and the fact that yes, I dropped out of high school, others who may have gone through something similar may not know that it is possible to earn your bachelor's degree; it is still possible to earn your master's degree, and it is still possible to actually aspire to get a PhD. When we see it, we can be it. I see an opportunity, and it's an opportunity for me to tell my story, for others to hear about it and to be able to hopefully be inspired by it, and also realize that they too can do hard things. They too can aspire to do whatever it is that is in their heart. Whatever was planted in the heart to be.

One of the biggest challenges in my field right now is that leadership spaces are still not fully built for authenticity, healing, or belonging, especially for underrepresented women such as African American, Latin American, women veterans, and those carrying lived experiences of grief or trauma. Many systems continue to value performance over humanity, productivity over presence, and outcomes over people. This creates environments where individuals are expected to lead without acknowledging the emotional, cultural, and historical labor they carry. For many Latinas in particular, leadership often requires navigating unspoken expectations to remain agreeable, quiet, or “manageable,” rather than bold, expressive, or fully seen.

This is deeply connected to the “calladita te ves más bonita” culture, a gendered, cultural message that teaches girls and women that silence is safety, compliance is beauty, and speaking up is a risk. While often framed as advice rooted in protection or respectability, this message can translate into leadership norms that penalize voice, discourage boundary‑setting, and render emotional labor invisible. In professional and academic settings, it shows up as code‑switching, self‑silencing, over‑functioning, and the pressure to prove worth without taking up space. Over time, this erodes belonging and reinforces systems where dominant voices are amplified while others are expected to endure quietly.

At the same time, this challenge presents a powerful opportunity. There is a growing hunger for values‑based leadership, storytelling, and spaces where people can show up whole. More institutions and communities are beginning to recognize that well‑being, equity, and belonging are essential to sustainable success. The opportunity lies in reshaping leadership development to center care for the whole person and to create pathways where voice, culture, and lived experience are recognized as assets rather than obstacles.

Another opportunity is the rising visibility of storytelling as a leadership tool. Naming experiences like the calladita culture has opened conversations that were once kept within Latin American households and communities, unseen or misunderstood in dominant spaces. When people finally have language for what they have lived, validation and transformation become possible. Storytelling disrupts silence, challenges inherited norms, and creates collective understanding across cultures and generations.

The work ahead requires courage, challenging systems while still building within them, but it is deeply hopeful. I believe we are in a moment where leaders who lead with heart, integrity, and truth are not only needed, but finally being heard.

The values most important to me, in both my work and my personal life are faith, integrity, service, belonging, and courage. At the center of everything I do is faith. It grounds me, sustains me, and guides the way I make decisions. My faith reminds me that leadership is not about status or recognition, but about stewardship being responsible for how we care for one another and how we show up, especially in moments of difficulty or transition. Integrity is equally essential. I strive to live and lead in ways that are aligned, where my values, words, and actions are consistent. This means being honest, accountable, and willing to name hard truths, even when doing so is uncomfortable. I am deeply committed to service. Whether in uniform, in academic spaces, or in community work, I believe our greatest calling is to uplift others and leave spaces better than we found them. Service, for me, is not transactional; it’s relational. Belonging is a value shaped by lived experience. I believe everyone deserves to be seen, heard, and valued as their full self. Creating environments where people can show up whole, without having to shrink, silence, or assimilate is core to my work. Finally, I value courage, the courage to speak, to lead with heart, to grieve honestly, and to keep moving forward with hope. Courage is what allows transformation to happen, both individually and collectively. These values are not separate from my life, they are how I live, lead, and love.